There are several national research programmes dealing with issues related to electric, hybrid, or fuel cell vehicles active during 2017. The programmes are closely linked to benefit from common tasks and overall synergies among them. They also share in monitoring and analyzing business intelligence.

The Vehicle Strategic Research and Innovation Programme (FFI)

The Vehicle Strategic Research and Innovation programme (FFI)started in 2009 as acooperative effort between the Government and the Swedish automotive industry. The programme finances common research efforts, innovation, and development activities mostly in the overall theme areas Climate and Environment, and Safety, respectively.

The project is managed by Vinnova (Swedish Agency for Innovation Systems), the Swedish Energy Agency, and the National Road Administration.

It comprises five subprogrammes: Sustainable Production Technology, Vehicle Development, Transport Efficiency, Vehicle and Traffic Safety, and Energy and Environment. The venture includes R&D operations valued at approximately 1 billion SEK per year (approximately 125 million US$ per year), of which public funds amount to 420 million SEK per year (approximately 52 million US$).

Energy-efficient Road Vehicles

The research programmeEnergy–efficient Road Vehicles, administered by the Swedish Energy Agency, involves several research projects dealing with batteries, fuel cells, and other vehicle components that use electricity as a means of improving energy efficiency. The programme is a continuation of a previous program and now concentrates on hybrid vehicles, especially their drive systems, battery technology, diesel reformers for fuel cells, and the architecture of hybrid systems. The annual budget is 2.9 million US$.

Swedish Electromobility Centre (SEC)

The Swedish Electromobility Centre (SEC) is a center of excellence for HEV technology and facilitating education and research to meet industrial and societal needs in this area and by forming a natural framework for co-operation between industry and academia. The center was formerly named Swedish Hybrid Centre(SHC). Participating in the centre are AB Volvo, Scania CV AB, Volvo Car Corporation AB, BAE Systems H�gglunds AB, Chalmers University of Technology, Lund University, and the Royal Institute of Technology. The yearly budget is about 3,4 million US$.

Battery Fund programme

The Battery Fund programme is a research and development programme, with a focus on technology areas battery reuse/recycling and automotive batteries. The research programme started in 2012 and has an annual budget of around 4 million US$. The goal is to build new knowledge and develop the skills of the battery area in both academia and industry. To accomplish this, the application should help to strengthen Sweden’s position in research and development of battery technology and battery recycling, as well as to new technical solutions and products to be developed in the energy storage area.

Demonstration of an electric road system

The following example is a demonstration project that is a joint initiative between several public agencies and is a part of an innovation procurement process for demonstrating electric road systems (ERS) on public roads. On June 22, 2016, a test section of an electric road system was inaugurated on E16 outside the city of Sandviken. The test section is two kilometers long and the technology is similar to light rail, with contact lines 5.4 meters over the roadway. The truck has a pantograph on the roof that feeds 750 volts DC into the truck’s hybrid electric system. The pantograph connects automatically at speeds up to 90 km/h. The test section is equipped with poles, 60 meters apart, which hold up the contact lines over one of the lanes. Other traffic on the road will not be affected. With this, Sweden has become one of the first countries in the world to conduct tests with electric power for heavy transports on public roads